This invention is directed to a system and method for persistent query information retrieval. In particular, this invention is directed to a system and method for submitting a series of complementary queries to a selected database in order to retrieve data associated with such queries. More particularly, this invention is directed to a system and method for retrieving all requested data from an associated database wherein the query does not contain any wild card characters.
Typically, a user of a document processing system or device will desire to retrieve selected information from a database or other data storage server or device associated with the document processing system or device. For example, a user may desire to retrieve an electronic mail address of a third party in order to send an electronic document to such user. If the user does not know such party's electronic mail address, then the user must search the database for such electronic mail address. The retrieval time for such information may vary depending on the structure of the database or server containing the information or on the workload of the system. If the database or server containing the information is associated with a system or network containing many users or a heavy workload, the retrieval time may be quite slow. As such, many system administrators are under pressure to reduce the information retrieval time of such searches.
One method to decrease the information retrieval time is to configure the system such that the most frequently used server is set as the default for all information retrieval requests and all database entries are cached or stored on that server. One problem, however, is that most servers do not allow wild card searches and consequently, the user may not use wild card characters in his search. As such, one search may not retrieve the required information if the user did not know the exact electronic mail address. The user must keep entering what the user believes may be the party's correct information until the correct entry is retrieved. In addition, the system administrator may have set a limit for the number of queries a user may submit for one session. Therefore, there is a need for a system and method for information retrieval that allows for multiple queries to a database or server such that the queries are formulated to retrieve all of the relevant data.
The subject invention overcomes the above-noted limitations and provides a system and method for persistent query information retrieval.